Overview of Report Designer Views
There are four different ways to view a report as you edit it in the report designer.
Each view presents your report in a different way and gives you access to different ribbon tabs.
- Report View—This view shows you the report just as your staff members will see it when they open it. The report presents real data and is particularly useful when you want to preview a report you’re editing. This view does not let you add column calculations, adjust column formatting options, or use action links.
- Layout View—This view is similar to the report view and is also useful for previewing reports. However, unlike the report view, this view lets you select individual columns in the report and apply formatting options to the columns. For example, if you want to add conditional formatting to a column to highlight data that meets certain criteria in the column, you could select the layout view, select the column, and configure conditional formatting for the column.
Note: When you select the report or layout view, a message
appears if your report queries too much data. While you can save the
report, we recommend that you add fixed filters or reduce the number
of tables in the report to ensure that the report runs efficiently.
In addition, any custom scripts added to the report are checked for
PHP errors when you select these views. If any problems are found,
a message displays providing information about the error. The report
can be saved, but the custom script will be disabled when users run
the report. See Create a Custom Script in a Report.
- Design View—This is the default view when you open the report designer. This view gives you access to the tools you need to create and edit your report on the design surface.
- Data Set View—This view shows your report in a textual design space. You can add columns, filters, and variables using this view, just as you can when using the design view, but you cannot add graphic elements, such as charts, images, or text fields. The data set view is particularly helpful if you want to view text descriptions of your report’s contents, and access different report components to edit them. In addition, you can define the filter label that displays in the Quick Search by selecting the filter you want to display and moving it to the top of the list.